Hearing Health Care Network: the perspective of the user

Abstract

Introduction: analysis of the satisfaction of the person with hearing impairment to health care is of paramount importance. Purpose: to describe the satisfaction of the users of the Hearing Health Care Network regarding the conditions of assistance, access and use of the services. Methods: cross-sectional observational study with random sample stratified by municipality composed of 228 users of Hearing Health Services. The data collection was performed in 34 municipalities of the micro regions of Sete Lagoas and Curvelo in Minas Gerais, Brazil, through the application of structured script consisting of five themes (identification, socioeconomic data, user perception about their inclusion in the Hearing Health Network, evaluation of the access conditions, expectation, perception and use of the service and objective evaluation of the user satisfaction). Results: the evaluation of the satisfaction had a result higher than 80% in all assessed items. Moreover, more than two thirds of the respondents reported that they would recommend the health service to others. However, only half of the respondents reported to be advised about the importance of the follow up by the Hearing Health Service. Conclusion: the study revealed that most of the users reported to be satisfied with the network and the assistance as well as to have their expectations met. The proposed instrument has met the purposes because it made possible to measure the satisfaction of the users of the Hearing Health Network.